Molecular confirmation and anthelmintic efficacy assessment against natural trichurid infections in zoo-housed non-human primates.

Introduction: This study aimed to assess Trichuris species infection and evaluate the anthelmintic efficacy of fenbendazole and ivermectin against natural trichurid infections in non-human primates (NHPs), kept at Mahendra Chaudhury (MC) Zoological Park, Chhatbir, India.

Materials And Methods: Molecular confirmation of Trichuris infection was carried out using polymerase chain reaction targeting internal transcribed spacer sequences, and anthelmintic efficacy was assessed by fecal egg count reduction test, respectively.

Results: A 710 base pair product confirmed Trichuris species infection in NHPs. Fenbendazole, 10 mg/kg body weight orally for 5 consecutive days and ivermectin, 100 μg/kg body weight orally for 3 alternate days proved effective and showed a maximum fecal egg reduction of 99.20% and 100% (P < .05) at day 7 post-treatment.

Conclusions: This study highlighted the molecular confirmation of Trichuris species in non-human primates and its management using fenbendazole and ivermectin.